Lib Dems back Archbishop's warning on welfare cuts

Leading Liberal Democrats have welcomed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s warning
that children will “pay the price” for cuts to welfare.

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem president, said the Most Rev Justin Welby was “right” to raise the alarm over the government’s decision to rein in benefit spending.

He said the warning, backed by 43 bishops, would help Lib Dems make their case against further cuts to welfare that some Tory Cabinet ministers are demanding inside the Coalition.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Politics, Mr Farron said the Archbishop’s “incredibly important” warning, in a letter to the Telegraph, had “strengthened the Liberal Democrats’ position”.

“He is right to make the point,” Mr Farron said. “It’s also right to say, from our point of view, that the Tories wanted to cut in actual cash terms benefits.

“They also wanted to make sure that people under 25 got no housing benefit, that disability benefits were frozen, and that people on low incomes with more than two children would lose child benefit – we have stopped all that.

“I think the Archbishop’s intervention is an immensely helpful one in strengthening the Liberal Democrats’ hand to fight for a fairer deal for the least well-off.”

The former Lib Dem leader, Lord Ashdown, also welcomed Archbishop Welby’s intervention. “That’s an important thing for the Archbishop to say,” Lord Ashdown told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.

In his most significant political intervention since taking office, Archbishop Welby warned that “children and families will pay the price” if plans to change the benefits system go ahead in their current form.

Justin Welby will be enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on March 21 Photo: Geoff Pugh

Mr Welby and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, have backed a letter to The Telegraph written by 43 bishops who say the benefits cuts will have a “deeply disproportionate” effect on children.

The move will come as a blow to Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, who is attempting to steer the reforms through Parliament.

He has said the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill, which will cap benefit rises at 1 per cent a year until 2016, is needed to help get spending “back under control” and create a fairer deal for taxpayers.

However, Mr Welby, who will be formally enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on March 21, said the legislation will remove the protection given to families against the rising cost of living and could push 200,000 children into poverty.

He said: “As a civilised society, we have a duty to support those among us who are vulnerable and in need. When times are hard, that duty should be felt more than ever, not disappear or diminish.

“It is essential that we have a welfare system that responds to need and recognises the rising costs of food, fuel and housing.

“The current benefits system does that, by ensuring that the support struggling families receive rises with inflation.

“These changes will mean it is children and families who will pay the price for high inflation, rather than the Government.”

Mr Welby added: “Politicians have a clear choice. By protecting children from the effects of this Bill, they can help fulfil their commitment to end child poverty.”

Mr Welby’s intervention signals his willingness to enter political debates on issues he believes are the Church’s responsibility to address, a policy for which his predecessor, Dr Rowan Williams, faced criticism.

He has, since taking office, already set out his opposition to the Government’s plans to allow gay marriage.

Benefits have risen in line with inflation in the past and this year rose by 5.2 per cent, but the Government’s reforms will limit the annual rises to just one per cent for the next three years.

The “umbrella” legislation, which is currently passing through the House of Lords, applies to a wide range of benefits and tax credits, including income support, child benefit, working tax credits and child tax credits.

According to The Children’s Society, this will mean that a couple with two children, where one parent earns £600 per week, would lose £424 a year by 2015 under the changes. Among the bishops to sign the letter to this newspaper are 14 of the 26 bishops who sit in the House of Lords.

Although Mr Welby and Dr Sentamu have added their voices to the concerns raised by the bishops, they have not signed the letter – in accordance with a long-standing convention within the Church of England.

Dr Sentamu said: “I hope that the Government will listen to the concerns being raised on the impact the changes to the Welfare Benefit Up-rating Bill could have on the poorest and most vulnerable in our society, our children.

“In difficult times it is right as a nation, committed to justice and fairness, that we protect those that are most in need.

“Even in tough economic times we have a duty and responsibility to care for those who are struggling."

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, said: “The bishops feel we have to be involved as it is no longer true to say these people are costing us money because they are feckless or lazy. We are talking about people who are working hard to support their families."

Bishop Stevens, who leads the 26 bishops in the Lords, added: “We are facing families who will have to choose from April 1 between buying food for their children and paying their rent, or between feeding their children and turning the fire on.”

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said the legislation was important to keep the welfare bill sustainable.

He said: “In difficult economic times we’ve protected the incomes of pensioners and disabled people, and most working age benefits will continue to increase 1 per cent. This was a tough decision but it’s one that will help keep the welfare bill sustainable in the longer term.

“By raising the personal allowance threshold, we’ve lifted 2 million people out of tax altogether, clearly benefiting people on a low income.”